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Meet The Team
Linda Locke, KC, “Bringer of Light”
Managing Lawyer and Executive Director
A member of the Sto:Lo Nation from the Fraser Valley, Linda began her career as a social worker and later, a probation officer. Frustrated by the number of people, both aboriginal and non-aboriginal, who had she saw fall through the cracks in the system and inspired by her work as an Elizabeth Fry Society court worker that inspired her to pursue a career in law. After attending the law program at Queen’s University in 1980, she quickly found her feet as a lawyer and became the first aboriginal woman in BC appointed a Queen’s Counsel.
Given the name Siyamstawel – ‘Bringer of Light’ – Linda strives to embody all that the name represents in her work, also inspiring it in her team at USCLAS, and in the community at large.
Brendan Barlow
Community Legal Advocate
Brendan moved to Hazelton with his wife in 2018, he started out here fresh out of a Bachelor of Social Work degree working with the Ministry of Family and Child Development as a Child & Youth With Support Needs social worker, in that role he assisted families of children with various complex needs to acquire funding and services. After this role, he moved on to work as a counsellor at Hazelton Secondary, and in 2023 he joined the team at USCLAS as the community (formerly poverty) legal advocate. A politically minded, and outspoken individual, Brendan finds the work that he does at USCLAS deeply rewarding and meaningful.
Outside of his work at USCLAS, Brendan is an experimental artist, radio host, knitter, and life long lover of the movies, music, and the arts as a whole.
Sandra Mowatt
Executive Assistant
Ama’sa, Good day!
I am from the Gitxsan Nation, a Gitanmaax Resident and have been with USCLAS for a very long time. I spent many years working in the Legal aid department and as a Community Partner. I also have worked on projects our office was contracted for to various organizations. I am currently assisting our executive director with the variety of programs our office offers. We are a grant bases non-profit society, so with that comes with a lot of administration and reporting. Our Executive director also is the managing/supervising lawyer for these programs. My role was fairly recent and I am enjoying the new adventure. We have been involved with planning and facilitating the Indigenous Justice Elders Symposium and are very excited to continue with the next one in 2027. I am a mother of 4 very energetic children, I have a very big family and strong roots in the community I come from. Ha’miya!